


Exhaustion

by darkesky



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Cousins, M/M, Magic, Multi, Nosebleed, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 00:57:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18201335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkesky/pseuds/darkesky
Summary: Something wet oozed onto his upper lip, and Owain clumsily reached his hand up and wiped at it. When he pulled his hand in front of his face, he spotted the dark crimson smearing across his pale hand. Huh. He racked his mind for when he got struck in the face, but he came up short.Then, someone sat down in front of him and rolled their eyes. “Your mom’s looking for you! You really are a big dummy!”---Or: the two times Owain/Odin overexerted himself with magic, and the two times he got comforted afterwards





	Exhaustion

In the low lighting, he can almost mistake her fear as determination. She pressed her lips together, and she kept adjusting her grip on the lance. If he reached out and tried to take her hand, he imagined she’d punch him in the face instead. Only the sweat, dripping down her nose, gave away the fact she was terrified out of her wits.

He kept looking around, looking for an escape. But the three of them were confined into the small medicine tent, waiting and watching as the enemy drew nearer. There weren’t any weapons in here beside her lance. Even his mother stood, clutching her staff for all its worth. She tried to take to magic, but she ultimately couldn’t get the swing of it.

Owain finally spotted salvation, hidden in a nook by his mother. He wasn’t practiced with it. He spent more time shadowing his father, trying to figure out the way locks popped open. He could deal damage with a sword after months of fighting with any of the other Shepherds’ children. But magic? They left that to Morgan and Laurent. He imagined Noire would be their third pick if needed, but never Owain.

Right before Owain lunged for the tome, she moved and placed her hand on his shoulder. Her blue pigtails swung with the movement, catching the moonlight as they moved. “What are you planning?”

“It’s a stretch,” he started, foregoing the flowery language of heroes for a second. He didn’t know when the Risen would break the line holding at the front of camp. The Shepherds kept going down, one by one, after his uncle’s death. Today would  _ not  _ be the day his own mother died. 

Cynthia followed his stare and gasped. “You can’t be serious! It’s dangerous to do untrained, and-”

“And it’s our best shot!” Right as Owain sprinted the length of the room, the tent’s opening flapped open. Lissa shrieked and stumbled back, trying to protect the two of them. She collided with him just as he reached down and snatched up the tome. Then, he ducked into an odd roll, forced the pages open, and frantically listed off the enchantment. 

Wind lunged forth from the page and sent the Risen tumbling backward. Owain let out a relieved laugh before diving back into the text. He needed to keep the Risen from keeping back up. Magic versus swords never seemed to win. The three mages the Shepherds still had in their rank came to Lissa and Maribelle more often than not. 

Suddenly, right as he sent off another gust of wind, Cynthia sidled up next to him. “I have an epic idea. I’ll go stand over there, and you send him flying into my lance! We’ll impale him together!”

“I like that idea,” Owain wheezed out. 

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder, and Owain struggled not to flinch. “You don’t have to do this. I’m sure we can-”

“Mom… I’ll be great.” He sent a smile over his shoulder before doing  _ exactly  _ what Cynthia planned. He swept his hand from left to right, and the magic followed obediently. The Risen stumbled at the blast and instantly collided with the tip of Cynthia’s lance. A huge smile lit up her face. 

She yanked it out and gave Owain an eager look. “Ready to do some more?”

“Let’s show them what heroes can do!”

-

Something wet oozed onto his upper lip, and Owain clumsily reached his hand up and wiped at it. When he pulled his hand in front of his face, he spotted the dark crimson smearing across his pale hand. Huh. He racked his mind for when he got struck in the face, but he came up short.

Then, someone sat down in front of him and rolled their eyes. “Your mom’s looking for you! You really are a big dummy!”

“Huh…?” Owain lifted his head just in time to get his face assaulted by something that looks  _ suspiciously  _ like Inigo’s shirt. 

Cynthia pouted at him. “Heroes accept help, ready? The Justice Cabal is an  _ assembling  _ of heroes, not just a single one. And if you need help, you should go to your  _ mom.” _

“Great heroes carve their paths by their lonesome,” Owain sagely said. She was too young to understand. While Owain only had about three months on her, he still felt like those three months  _ defined  _ their relationship. Of course, when he used this logic, Inigo bullied him and pointed out he was born closer to Lucina than Cynthia.

She continued to wipe at his face with his best friend’s shirt. “You use  _ swords.  _ If you were a great swordmaster in that battle, I’d be okay if you carved out your own path. But you used magic today. And magic doesn’t really run in your family, one way or the other.”

“But-”

“But I heard you were impressive. You certainly got  _ one  _ lady to swoon for you.” Inigo dropped to his knees beside Cynthia, holding a concoction. 

Cynthia punched him. “Hey!”

“I think I’ve finally found the reason you won’t come to tea with me,” Inigo teased. He gently pressed a concoction against Owain’s lips, and he eagerly gulped it down. The warmth spread in his stomach, and Owain offered a grateful smile. Before he could thank him, he looked over and winked at Cynthia. “Should I leave you two alone?”

“He’s my cousin, so it’s not  _ me  _ who wants him. Maybe  _ you  _ want both of us. After all, I’m surprised you don’t want to watch,” Cynthia shot back. Immediately, Inigo’s cheeks flooded with heat, and she pumped a fist in the air triumphantly. “I  _ knew  _ it!”

“I… That was a low blow,” stammered Inigo, nervously running a hand through his hair. 

She huffed and crossed her arms. “You can flirt all you want, but I think you just like the chase and hate the catching. Like, here I am, offering a threesome of heroic proportions to you, and you just-”

_ “Please  _ stop talking,” he whined.

Owain laughed. “Truly, what an epic chapter it would be in the story of the Justice Cabal. The great Cynthia, the pegasus queen, and the epic Owain Dark, dark mage of myth and legend, come home to their man of flowers. He might not be much of a fighter, but his love shall fill them with a thousand suns’ strength and-”

“I don’t want a threesome with you guys!” Inigo yelped.

“Excuse me? What are you three talking about?”

Inigo, at this point, reached for the tome sitting beside Owain. Blood still trickled on the cover of the book. “Okay, it’s time for me to kill myself. I will take this tome, and I will try my very hardest to blast off my head.”

“Hi, sis!” Cynthia brightly said, waving enthusiastically. 

Lucina looked amongst the group, narrowing her eyes slightly. He can tell the second she assumed the position of a leader once more. While Lissa acted as the exalt for now, everyone knew Lucina would eventually fill her father’s shoes. “I’m unsure if this is the best topic to be discussing post-battle, especially since you two are kin. I expected to find Inigo delivering Owain to his mother to be healed, not sitting around discussing…”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, my dear cousin. With the blood rushing from the war it raged, there is no better time than to find someone to stand with you in the ashes. Whether it be as a lover or a companion. And in the ashes, passion for bloodlust can transform into passion for-” Owain cut off as Inigo swatted at him with the tome. “I’m injured, remember?”

“Which is why you should have gone to Lissa… Or, at the very least, you should have gone to Brady. Any kind of healer would have helped you,” snapped Lucina. “And Cynthia, our mother is worried out of her mind since she can’t find you.”

“Oh, shit! I didn’t think about that!” Cynthia leaned over, bestowing a kiss on Owain’s cheek. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed one on Inigo’s. As Owain offered a lazy wave and Inigo started stuttering again, Cynthia clambered to her feet and grabbed Lucina’s hand before she toppled over. “Let’s go find Mom! Inigo, you’re on Owain-Watching Duty!”

Inigo, after Lucina and Cynthia were safely out of earshot, shifted to Owain. “So… Is Cynthia available for tea later?”

“You’re gross.”

-

He barely even got to say goodbye to Cynthia when he went to save Nohr. She wanted to accompany him, but she didn’t want to leave her family once more. They met on the docks, and their hug lingered too long. 

“Come back alive, okay?”

“I promise,” he whispered, hooking his pinky with hers. 

-

Odin can’t exactly follow the trail of enemies he left in his wake, raising hell wherever Leo pointed him. Today felt like a strange day already. The three of them were traveling, on Garon’s orders, to one of the villages on the outskirts to squash a rebellion. To get confronted by  _ another  _ village’s rebellion en route… Well, Odin could sense the irony.

Halfway through the fight, Niles’ bow snapped in half when someone swung a sword at his head. Using a bow as a shield wasn’t his finest idea, but it startled the enemy enough he could plunge the broken wood into their abdomen. He ran off to join Leo, and Leo carved a path on the opposite side.

A dark blur crossed in front of his face, and he flung out his wind without waiting a second. The person dodged, and immediately, someone struck his forearm to get him to drop his tome. He felt the concentration of magic burning in his fingertips without it, and he tried to spark them.

They dodged and paused. “Your nose is bleeding.”

“Niles?” Odin finally let the haze slough off him, and he smiled brightly at his fellow retainer. “Niles, the scion of darkness and son of stealth! Has your ability suppressed the mortal realm, and your need of a weapon is no more?”

“Nah. We won, and Leo sent me here to make sure you didn’t die.” Niles cast a suspicious look over him before a lazy smirk crossed his face. “Did you?”

“No death can stake claims over Odin Dark, legendary dark mage-”

“Who overexerted himself and needs to take a break.” Leo rode over his steed, immediately leaping off and patting the saddle.

Odin shook his head furiously, a wave of dizziness crashing into him. He stumbled into Niles, who immediately shoved him towards the horse. “Lord Leo, I cannot deprive you of your noble steed. You and your partner make a deadly duo, worthy of nightshade. If one should be without the other, no longer could you keep the toxin of your attacks.”

“And here I thought my tome was what I attacked with,” Leo said dryly. Then, he nodded. “Do I need to command you to take a break?”

“I… Of course not, Lord Leo.” Odin finally relented and clambered upon the steed. Instantly, he pressed his face against the horse’s neck and let the exhaustion wash over him. He distantly heard Niles and Leo chuckling at him. 

Then, Leo patted his knee, and Odin lifted his head. “You did good today, Odin, but I have to admit. I’m a little surprised it exhausted you to this extent.”

“Wind’s not my specialty,” confessed Odin. If he was being honest, the only form of magic he could really succeed with was thunder and lightning. He wasn’t sure if Anankos intended that when he originally sent the trio to Nohr. Nonetheless, he missed the feeling of a sword in his hand. Maybe he’d convince Leo to let him take up the handle of a dark knight. Then, sitting atop a steed of his very own, he could wield a Levin sword… Maybe he could convince Laslow to give up the Levin sword he always kept near Lord Xander.

His lord stole the tome out of his hands, running his hands over the cover. “So when I asked you to trade tomes with me, you did so at your own risk.”

“Sounds like Odin,” Niles muttered. He glanced over at Leo. “Do we still have to squash the rebellion on the outskirts, sir?”

“Yes… But first, we will be stopping to buy a hotel room.” Leo smiled before glancing up at Odin. “Rest.”

“Your wish is my command,” he mumbled into the horse’s mane and promptly fell asleep.

-

When he awoke, it was beneath a thick comforter with Niles and Leo on either side of him. He smiled one last time before allowing himself to fall back to sleep.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I realized, about halfway through, Owain and Cynthia were cousins, so if there's some weird phrasing, it's because I didn't want to completely scrap it. I usually ship Chrom with a female Robin, but since Robin is with Olivia in this world, I paired Sumia with Chrom instead... Which makes that ship really odd.


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